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" People who are obese and have other metabolic abnormalities such as high blood pressure may experience a faster rate of cognitive decline than their healthier counterparts, scientists have found. Researchers at French research institute Inserm and University College London assessed 6,401 people, with an average age of 50 at the start of the study. Participants&amp;#039; body mass index (BMI) and metabolic risk factors were recorded at the start of the study and their memory and other cognitive skills were assessed three times over a ten-year period. Publishing their findings in Neurology medical journal, the study authors revealed that 31 per cent of participants had two or more metabolic abnormalities, such as high blood pressure, low HDL cholesterol, high blood sugar or high triglycerides. They found that individuals who were both obese and had metabolic abnormalities experienced a 22.5 per cent faster rate of cognitive decline than those with a normal weight and no metabolic abnormalities. However, even those obese people who were metabolically normal showed an accelerated rate of decline. Study author Dr Archana Singh-Manoux commented: &amp;#039;More research is needed to look at the effects of genetic factors and also to take into account how long people have been obese and how long they have had these metabolic risk factors ... to give us a better understanding of the link between obesity and cognitive function.&amp;#039; Jessica Smith, research officer at the Alzheimer&amp;#039;s Society, described the study as &amp;#039;robust&amp;#039;. She said that the results back up existing evidence that obesity during mid-life increases a person&amp;#039;s risk of developing dementia. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/conditions/brain-and-nervous-system/news/a22814/obesity-linked-to-faster-cognitive-decline/>